If everything had gone as per plan, actor Ranbir Kapoor and his parents, actors Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, would have already acquired the required permissions to reconstruct their iconic Bandra bungalow, Krishna Raj. Towards the end of the year, the house would have been pulled down to make way for a new villa that would comprise Ranbir’s 70-seater preview theatre, apart from a post-production studio. It would also have a swimming pool.

But for now, the plans, it seems, will take some time to materialise. All thanks to the paperwork required from civic bodies for the kind of re-structuring the family has in mind.

Insiders insist that the property behind Krishna Raj is also up for massive reconstruction. And there are certain aspects that the BMC takes into consideration before giving a go-ahead to such large-scale renovation plans. “We don’t want to start and stall work, while waiting for additional consent from the BMC. Our civic and government systems are somewhat dense. It takes all of us a while to get papers in order before embarking on something as huge and dear as this,” says Ranbir, who will be seen in Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar this November.

“We’re hoping to get the permissions in a few months and then we can start this project. We’ve done our bit. It’s for the civic bodies to help us now.” Even though, he explains, the plan was never to demolish the landmark Pali Hill home, the actor admits that they did get a bit too ambitious. “We just got a little greedy about the space and wanted to use it better. I don’t have any complaints with the house though. It’s spacious, beautiful and brimming with memories,” says the actor, who has lived there all his life. “We were not trying to bring down the bungalow and allow a high-rise to take its place, and then live on the top floors. We just wanted to expand our private space within the boundary walls.”

Earlier this year, there were speculations that the Kapoor family was ready to give up their home of three decades, to a renowned builder for redevelopment as a skyscraper. But Ranbir clears the air: “We can’t let a mammoth construction replace our home.”